Monday, May 21, 2007

Are you being gouged at the pump? Find out with this handy Gasoline Price Gouge Meter from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Here in London we’re paying $1.11/litre and here’s what the GPG Meter had to say about it.

Your gas prices are 23.2¢ per litre above the normalized cost of 87.8¢ per litre in London

With today’s crude oil price of $65.20 USD per barrel and the US dollar at $1.09 CAD, the price of regular unleaded gasoline in London should be 87.8¢ per litre at normal profit margins.

At a price of $1.11 per litre, you are paying 23.2¢ per litre in pure excess profit. Across Canada, an extra margin of 23.2¢ per litre generates an additional profit of 23.2 million dollars per day.

Bastards!

Now mind you, I’m not upset over paying $1.11/litre for gas. It’s not really an outrageous amount of money to pay. But what does piss me off is that the oil companies are engaged in what can only be described as outrageously greedy capitalism at its worst. What is even more appalling is that these same greedy bastards are the driving force behind the anti-climate change fight. They cry that they’ll suffer undue hardship if Canada tries to meet its Kyoto target while gouging consumers at the pumps and raking in record profits.

It’s time to put an end to this nonsense. The excessive greed in the oil industry needs to be regulated and taxes on gasoline need to be raised so we can afford to repair the damage done to our environment. The oil industry will survive with a few less dollars in their pockets and the consumer, while not paying any less, will at least know their money will be used for a greater good.